Colombian President Andres Pastrana has commissioned the first unit of the US$959M Porce II hydro plant in northwestern Columbia, 120km north of the city of Medellin. The 392MW plant on the Porce river is set to produce electric power to meet demand within the system of Empresas Públicas de Medellin (EPM), and that of the interconnected national network.
The plant will produce 2044GWh of power annually when all units are commissioned, increasing the capacity of EPM by 18%. The main civil works include a 118m high, 455m long roller compacted concrete dam, incorporating four radial gates with a maximum discharge of 9860m3/sec, diversion and drainage tunnels, an underground power house and an access tunnel.
The reservoir created by the dam impounds 211M m3 of water.